Archive for April 22, 2015

Israel’s Top Bank Hires Former President Shimon Peres For $30K a Month

Israel’s Bank Hapoalim denies putting ‘Peres & Associates’ on monthly retainer of $30,000 is aimed to help block projected government reforms.
• Peres’ company says revenues generated “goes to philanthropic & social projects, and to charity.”

By Hezi Sternlicht, Zeev Klein, and Israel Hayom Staff

 

Bank Hapoalim, Israel’s largest bank, has retained the services of former President Shimon Peres to promote some of its business interests, the financial daily The Marker reported Monday.

Former President Shimon Peres – Photo: Reuters

According to the report, the bank pays Peres and Associates, a company owned by the former president and managed by his son, Chemi Peres, a monthly retainer of $30,000 in consulting fees. Continue Reading »

IDF court: Arab terrorist to pay damages to terror victims’ family NIS 3.3m ($825K)

Palmers were ambushed in 2011 by rock throwing duo causing car accident, resulting in deaths of father & son.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB

 

A three-judge panel of the IDF’s Judea Military Court granted approximately NIS 3.3 million in punitive damages on Tuesday to the family of Asher and Yonatan Palmer, victims of a 2011 terror attack by Ali Saada and Waal al-Arjeh.

Asher Palmer

Ali Saada, along with Waal al-Arjeh, killed Asher Palmer and his baby son Yonatan in 2011 by throwing rocks at their vehicle. – Photo COURTESY: KIRYAT ARBA LOCAL COUNCIL

Despite the unanimous ruling to grant at least some symbolic damages to the family, though, the judges were split 2-1 about granting such a massive punitive compensatory damage award, with judges Amir Dahan and Steve Berman voting in favor and judge Ze’ev Afik voting for a lower amount. Continue Reading »

Arabs Replacing Carpet at Dome of the Rock Quickly Cover Millennium Old Mosaic Tiles

Remodeling at Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa sparks verbal ‘holy war’ as Israel’s gov’t authorities plead that the work be halted because it could cause irreparable damage, while Jordan’s Waqf officials forbid Jewish involvement.

By The Associated Press

 

It began as a routine remodeling project: Muslim authorities replacing an old carpet worn thin by masses of worshippers at the Dome of the Rock, the iconic, gold-topped shrine that overlooks the Old City of Jerusalem.

Workers place carpets over ancient floor designs in the cave under the Dome of the Rock shrine – Photo: AP

But there is no such thing as routine remodeling when it comes to the most contested piece of real estate in Jerusalem, where the presence of a mere screwdriver can threaten to ignite religious tensions. Continue Reading »

Pulitzer-prize Winning WSJ Editor Counsels Israel to Ignore World after Obama’s Betrayals

Pulitzer-prize winning foreign-affairs columnist Bret Stephens tells Jerusalem to revive its past strategies, when Israel wasn’t afraid to go ‘rogue,’ because since Obama, the US isn’t the US anymore.

By Ari Yashar

 

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and deputy-editor of the paper Bret Stephens argued on Monday that due to US President Barack Obama’s irreversible actions, the US doesn’t have Israel’s back anymore – and Israel should learn to stand on its own.

Lee C. Bollinger, President of Columbia University (left), presents the 2013 Pulitzer Prize on Commentary to Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal.

Continue Reading »

How Far Can Israel Push Putin Before Angering the Bear?

Jerusalem continues to consider its options with Russia, like abandoning its neutrality on Ukraine and sending low-level representative to WWII celebration, but one Israeli expert suggests the Jewish State needs to play its cards very carefully.

By Gedalyah Reback

 

Yesterday, it was announced that Israel would be represented by its ambassador in Moscow at Russia’s annual World War II victory parade. It does not sound like such a remarkable thing, but this is an event that often draws major dignitaries – Russia did capture Berlin, after all. Israel has sent major representatives to the event in the past, but this year’s lack of a Prime Minister, President or minister of note is likely a clear repudiation of Russia’s decision to resell the S-300 missile system to the Iranians. Continue Reading »

Israel’s President & Prime Minster Blow Off Jimmy Carter, Want Nothing to Do with Him

Israel’s top two leaders reject request to meet with former US president Carter on grounds of his ‘anti-Israel’ position during last summer’s conflict, ‘Operation Protective Edge’ with Gaza.

By i24news

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin rejected a request from former US President Jimmy Carter to meet with him during a planned trip to Israel, Haaretz reported Monday.

Former US President Jimmy Carter speaks to the media on April 10, 2013 in New York City – Photo: Mario Tama/AFP

A senior official told the Israeli daily that the Foreign Ministry recommended that the Israeli leaders not meet with Carter because of his “anti-Israeli stance” over the last few years. Continue Reading »

Israel President Rivlin gives PM Netanyahu 2 week extension to form new government

Likud insider: Coalition deals with ultra-Orthodox parties & Kulanu expected to be signed within days, possibly giving new government 22 ministers.
• Likud insider warns: ‘It’s not over until it’s over.’

By Mati Tuchfeld, Yehuda Shlezinger & Israel Hayom Staff

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Reuven Rivlin on Monday morning and asked him for a two-week extension to finalize the coalition negotiations.
Continue Reading »

Palestinian Authority ministers leave Gaza early after Hamas has them on house arrest

Palestinian Authority ministers were first dispatched by Hamas to Gaza to solve salary dispute, then ordered to return to Ramallah, after having been placed on house arrest by Hamas.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

Palestinian Authority ministers who arrived in the Gaza Strip earlier this week returned to the West Bank after Hamas imposed severe restrictions on their movements and contacts.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah. – Photo: REUTERS

Palestinian sources said that Hamas had placed the ministers under house arrest in their hotel, preventing them from receiving or talking to anyone.

The 10 ministers were dispatched to the Gaza Strip as part of the PA government’s effort to solve the problem of thousands of public employees who have not received their salaries for several months. Continue Reading »

SS Guard, a.k.a. the ‘Accountant of Auschwitz’ goes on trial in Germany

Former Nazi guard, 93 yr-old Oskar Groening, who was tasked with collecting the belongings of victims who arrived by train, is indicted and to face trial in Germany for his part in Nazi crimes during the Holocaust.

By The Associated Press

 

Hedy Bohm had just turned 16 when the Nazis packed her and her parents onto a cattle car in May 1944 and sent them from Hungary to the Auschwitz death camp in occupied Poland.

Survivor at remembrance ceremony – Photo: MCT

After three days and nights in darkness, crammed into the standing-room-only car with babies wailing, the doors were flung open. Continue Reading »

3 Women honored for fighting for gender equality to light Independence Day beacon

The 3 women, i24news correspondent Lucy Aharish, Alice Miller, the woman who petitioned the High Court so females can become air force pilots, & drug developer Marta Weinstock-Rosin, were chosen to light Israel’s Independence Day beacons.

By Alexandra Lukash

 

According to the women who are lighting beacons this coming Independence Day, they would much rather prefer that women would not still have to prove themselves this day in age than be honored for their contribution to the fight for gender equality.

Lucy Aharish, Marta Weinstock-Rosin, Alice Miller. – Photo: Idan Arbel

“I wish this category did not exist, that I would not have to be someone who makes a break through in the advancement of humanism and dialogue about equality,” says Lucy Aharish, an Arab Israeli news correspondent for i24news. Continue Reading »

Israeli water companies send reps to Brazil to help counter severe water crises

Delegation representing over a dozen Israeli water companies was sent to visit Brazil in order to aid the country overcome its ‘water challenge.’

By Hillel Fendel

 

No fewer than 13 Israeli water companies participated in a “water delegation” to parched Brazil just before Passover – in an effort to help the country overcome what officials call its “water challenge.”

Water – illustrative

Brazil is currently experiencing its worst water shortage ever, due to increased water use, low rainfall levels, and low infrastructure investments. The Israeli economic offices in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, in cooperation with Israel NewTech and the Israeli Export Institute, organized the delegation.
Continue Reading »

WATCH: Rap Video Tells Jews to Save Themselves, Leave Europe

Unlike the days of their parents & grandparents, European Jews now have Israel as a safe-haven, but they must open their eyes to see the storm that’s coming.

By Israel Today Staff

 

There’s no question that anti-Semitism in Europe is on the rise, and in a big way. And there are no shortage of those warning that today’s anti-Semitism is comparable to the atmosphere in the run-up to the Nazi Holocaust.

YouTube screenshot

Will the Jews of Europe heed the warning signs? Unlike their grandparents and great-grandparents, Jews today have a homeland to which to escape, a safe haven with a strong Jewish army. Continue Reading »

Report: Int’l Congress of Holocaust Deniers Gather in Center of London

Anti-Semitic gathering organized under a veil of secrecy at Grosvenor Hotel in the heart of London is meant to demonize Jews and propagate hate to advance neo-Nazi agenda.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

A large international conference of Holocaust deniers recently took place in the heart of London, Britain’s Daily Mail reported on Saturday.

Holocaust survivors at Auschwitz – Photo: REUTERS

“This is the biggest and most significant meeting of Holocaust deniers that Britain has ever seen. It is a very worrying development,” the paper quoted Gerry Gable, an expert on the extreme Right who aided the news outlet’s undercover investigation of the event, as saying. Continue Reading »

Ehud Barak backs Israeli life-saving start-up with $1M

Former PM Barak invests $1 million in Reporty, start-up company app to help emergency & rescue services quickly identify, locate & get to individuals in danger.

By Sagi Cohen and Itamar Eichner

 

Former prime minister Ehud Barak has invested $1 million in Reporty Homeland Security, an Israeli start-up involved in the development of a global platform for real-time reporting, the use of which could save lives. The Reporty system helps emergency and rescue services to quickly locate and get to individuals in distress.

The Reporty application

Reporty was founded in 2014 by CEO Amir Elichai, who teamed up with Pinchas Buchris, former director-general of the Defense Ministry and ex-commander of the Israel Defense Forces’ 8200 intelligence unit. Continue Reading »

Palestinian Gov’t Official Indicted Under Multiple Terrorism Charges

Israeli military court charges Palestinian lawmaker Khalida Jerrar with 12 counts including supporting terrorism & being a member of an illegal terror organization.

 

Palestinian lawmaker Khalida Jerrar was charged with 12 counts by a Israeli military court in connection to her membership with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, according to a report released Friday by Amnesty International.

Palestinian parliamentarian Khalida Jarrar. – Photo: REUTERS

Jerrar, who has been detained by Israeli authorities since April 2, had the charges brought against her Wednesday. Charges included membership of an illegal organization, participation in protests, and incitement to kidnap Israeli soldiers, according to Palestinian news agency Ma’an

Earlier this month, IDF soldiers arrested Jarrar during a pre-dawn raid on her home in Ramallah for violating an injunction issued last August ordering her to remain in the Jericho area. Continue Reading »